Out-of-plane flexible ring tyre model development and validation

In this paper, a novel out-of-plane flexible ring tyre model is developed, which is an extension of our previously proposed in-plane flexible ring tyre model. The tyre model includes a rigid rim, certain number of discretised belt points, and numerous tread blocks attached between the belt and the ground. In this model, the tyre is divided into several layers, with each layer similar as the in-plane tyre model. The parameters in the out-of-plane tyre model are divided into in-plane tyre parameters and out-of-plane tyre parameters. The values of the in-plane tyre parameters are borrowed directly from the in-plane tyre model, and the out-of-plane tyre parameters are identified based on a certain out-of-plane cleat test. Once the parameters are determined, various ADAMS® FTire cleat tests and handling tests are conducted to validate the proposed out-of-plane tyre model.